I think that the song “Don't Stop Believing” by Journey is an excellent song that everybody can relate to. It bears listening to time and time again just to get the full message. There is a whole story behind the song that you cannot understand the first time you hear it. After hearing it many times, you pick out more details and you learn how much you truly relate to the song with the parts about love and romance and also with the parts of risk-taking. For people who have not experienced some of the things that the song is about, they are missing out but should have seen similar things in movies and have some idea of these feelings.

“Don't Stop Believing” has an excellent beat to it. The beat is quick, has some upbeat tempos to it, but is not too fast. There are a couple nice guitar solos throughout the song that you can appreciate more and more with more repetition of the song. The song starts out with a piano playing, which I personally like in any song because it makes the song seem more personal and more emotional. The slow piano playing followed by the solo singing makes it very easy to get into the song from the start. You will be immediately hooked so that you will listen to the rest of the song, with which you will not be at all disappointed by as it only improves with time. Some people might argue that the song's beat is too slow and that it is hard to listen to, but the speed of the song just helps to get the true stories across.

The first time listening to the song, you don't pick out exactly all of the details that the song has to offer. After listening to the song more times, you realize that it has a lot more to offer you about life. For anybody who hasn't heard the song before, there is one part in particular that goes “A singer in a smokey room. A smell of wine and cheap perfume. For a smile they can share the night. It goes on and on and on and on.” I think that most people have been in a situation like that before with somebody else, and by relating to it, the song helps remind you of what love feels like if you do not have a feeling of love at the time of listening to it, or it reinforces that feeling if you are already in love. The person might not be a singer, and there doesn't necessarily have to be the smell of wine or cheap perfume, but if you've felt it before, you know what “ For a smile they can share the night. It goes on and on and on and on.” means. If you have ever shared that smile with somebody on a night before, you know that it does seem to go on and on, and you know that the night just passes away. You know that there is nothing greater that you can feel as long as you “Don't Stop Believing” and “Hold on to that feelin'.” As long as you hold onto that feelin', you will be happy and content with whatever else happens in life, and the nights will just pass away as you share them with that one special person.

Being able to relate to the love part of the song is very important. If you can relate to the love story contained in the song, it becomes much better. The song has the ability to remind you of all the good times you've had and all the nights that you have passed with a special person and the amazing feelings that go with that.

Gambling is also contained in the song. Not the typical kind of roll the dice at the craps table type of gambling, but the kind of gambling where you take a chance on something. Relating to the love stories, love is always taking a chance. Once you put yourself out there and make yourself vulnerable then “Some will win, some will lose.” We have all had times where we have won, and we have all had times when we lose. Losing is miserable and winning is great. By using this contrast, the song helps to once again relate more personally to life and past experiences of different people that they have shared over time in different ways.

The amazing beat and rhythm of “Don't Stop Believing,” by Journey, makes it a great song. Along with the actual sound of the song are the messages behind the song. The messages that are contained in the song relate so well to life that it touches anybody's heart when they hear it. You cannot listen to this song only once, and with each repetition it only gets better and you understand the song more and more and feel like you relate to it more every time.